That would be a great question for Raymond Chen! I wonder whoever thought that was a good idea. Anyone who uses a localized Word version is likely to use an English one as well sometime, and the hot keys are completely messed up.

For bonus points, ask about the localized Excel formulas. And date formats! That is so brain freezingly stupid I can not for my life comprehend it. It causes no end of trouble when moving data between versions.

In the Spanish version, I believe it's Ctl+N. Even as a native speaker it used to trow me off.