Can you give us the steps to reproduce? I googled around but couldn't find the bug. I also tried a few different languages and I can't get Terminal.app to crash.
Maybe I should, but 10.8's Terminal.app seemed to have everything I need (well, except for the crash reporter ruining my work every time I forget and type ~)
You know, it's funny. I said the exact same thing you did, then a friend convinced me to try iTerm2 about a year ago. I still couldn't put my finger on what's better about it, exactly, but I've never considered going back after the first day. It just feels right.
It's probably easier to try than it is to find out why to try it...
Doesn't crash my Terminal.app. I use a swedish keyboard. Perhaps you could create a new clean account on your computer and try it there? You can always delete the account afterwards.
Yup, and that's why I suggests you create a new fresh user and try it there. If the bug doesn't show there it's something in your personal settings somewhere, if not it's in the system settings.