"When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that seperated and came to rest on each of them. All of the were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-Fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: 'Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own language?" Acts 2:1-8
If you notice in the above verses, the disciples 'speaking in tongues' were talking in all the languages known at that time. "...because each one heard them speaking in his own language","Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own language?". Everyone heard them in his native tongue, not something that no one could understand. If you notice some people's ideas of speaking in tongues, they think it is speaking in an angels' language and they need an interpreter. Yet these disciples were speaking in already known languages, it's just that everybody heard them in the language they knew best. God let them do this for 2 reasons- It was a sign miracle, proving the disciples really came from God, and also it let everybody hear the Gospel in the language they knew best.
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