"Various Kinds of Tongues"

1 Corinthians 12:28New American Standard Bible (NASB)
28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.

(See also 1 Cor 12:10; these are the only two places in the Bible that says, "kinds of tongues.")

"Various kinds of tongues." What does this mean?

First, the words "various" and "of" do not exist in the Greek. The Greek is "genos glossa." Or, "And God has appointed... genos glossa."

From the word studies below, we know that Paul did not mean the tongues of various people-groups. Instead, he used a word that means born or produced. The word "appointed" can also mean to place or make.

Therefore, the passage could be paraphrased as, "God has made or placed in the church... families, kindreds, or a diversity of tongues." Or, even more so, "God has made for the church produced tongues."

So, while "kinds" is an acceptable translation, it fails to capture the idea in the word, genos, of, well, genesis. Therefore, one possible interpretation of the passage is that tongues were created (born or produced) for the Church.

Word studies: 
Mounce: Genos - offspring, progeny; family, kindred, lineage; race, nation, people; kind, sort, species [Mt. 13:47 - "various kinds of fish"].

[Various] kinds, "genos" in Greek, means "kin (abstractly or concretely, literally or figuratively, individually or collectively);" and from that, "born, country (-man), diversity, generation, kind (-red), nation, offspring, stock." Can also mean "species." It is from another word meaning "to come into being, to happen, to become."

Genos means born or produced by, and birth. From the word genos we derive such words  Genesis, gene, genetics, generate, genus, genius, hydrogen, and carcinogen.

KJV (1611) says, "diversities of tongues."

1 Corinthians 12:2 (NASB)
2 You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led.

The word "pagans" is a translation of the word, "ethnos." It can also be translated as "nation, people, Gentiles." We derive the word "ethnic" from it, as well as other words.

For 12:28, Paul could have chosen ethnos instead of genos. If he had done so, it would have been clear that he was referring to the languages of various nations (or "people-groups"). Instead, he used ethnos in 12:2 and genos in 12:28 and thus distinguished the two.

Appointed is a Greek word, tithemi, which means to set, put, place, lay down, or make.

Regarding "of:" there is also no "of" before "healings," either. In fact, the English word "of" does not have a Greek counterpart and except for "part of" and "member of" all of the uses of "of" are merely added there for the convenience of readers of English to help us figure out what is going on.

"In" is the usual translation of the Greek word "en." However, "en" can also mean "by, with, on, at;" and "denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state)."

"The," or "ho" in Greek, usually equivalent to our word, "the," but often translated as "those."

Churches is a translation of the Greek word, "ekklesia," literally meaning "a calling out."

New Testament Greek Literal Translation Bible Search W&H Greek New Testament (Literal English, 2009)
And to-which indeed it-had-placed, the-one a-Deity, in unto-the-one unto-a-calling-out-unto to-most-before to-setees-off, to-second to-declarers-before, to-third to-teaching-speakers, upon-if-to-the-ones to-abilities, upon-if-to-the-ones to-grantings-to of-curings-to, to-ever-a-one-takings, to-helmings, to-kindreds of-tongues.

1 Corinthians 12:28New American Standard Bible (NASB)
28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.