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Language is probably the most important part of our lives as humans but, how many of us really knows where language came from, am talking about the origin and the first known language ever to be spoken.  There's this theory I grew up to know, might sound a little silly though. A king during the ancient times of man had this idea of wanting to touch the sky so he ordered the construction of a tower to get up there with a thousand slaves as workers. After reaching a high amount of floors, he paid a visit to the construction site and climb up to the highest floor. He looked up the sky with his bow and shot an arrow to see how close he had reached to touch the sky. Moments later a mysterious lightning struck and the entire building crashed to the ground as well as everyone. Chaos ensued when everyone stood up not understanding the other person next to them. They all spoke a new different language. laughs. If this theory is true, then what language were they speaking before the incident?  Does anyone know a more realistic answer to the origin of language? 

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Actually, there are two theories that they are saying. The first one is the Divine Theory or the Believe in Divine Theory. It is believe that it is God's gift to human. You can read it through Genesis 2:20 when Adam gave names to the living creatures. Also, when there is a part in the bible that the people in Israel started to don't understand each other. God separate them through language that is why it is the way why countries are even formed. The other one is Natural evolution Hypothesis. As the humans are growing in populations, so as their brains grown sophisticated that they acquire learning different words that they develop as a language by giving a term from it.  As it evolves, it is called Language Acquisition device.
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I will provide answer to your question from biblical stand point. Although the narrative you gave is similar to the one i am going to give but mine is more substantive. The human language being spoken today by different large group of people got its origin when the people of the province in Babylon decided to build what is known as Towel of Babel. They where actually driven by the curiosity to know if really God is in existence or not and if his dwelling place is in heaven.This made them to start building the towel. They made significant progress to an extent, and when God realized that they are trespassing beyond their sovereignty, he decided to sow a seed of division among them by making them to start speaking different languages. And that was how the project was abandoned because they couldn't understand themselves. That's how human language originated from Towel of Babel.
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As a Christian I will be answering this from the biblical standpoint. Gen 11: 1-9 gave an account of how we came about the different languages. Well,I may add I believe this is the true version.

The story goes thus,that  before now there was only one language spoken by everyone until some people wanted to be together and not scattered on the surface of the earth so suggested to build a tower as high as heavrn eastward at Shinar to accommodate everyone.

Sure they started building  and we are told God came down to see their work,so God felt it shouldn't be that way,scattered and stopped the building by causing confusion in the language and everyone began to speak different language which is what God wanted.

So this is the Bible version of it.
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It all comes back in the time of our ancient ancestors, or so-called the biblical time. There is the time where our ancestors wanted to reach the top of the world, and for able them to do that they have to build a very huge and tall structure. So they decided to make one, but not just a huge one, but they wanted to build the tallest in the world, tall enough that it could take them at top of the world. That structure is none other than the Tower of Babylon or so-called the tower of Babel. Leading by the great Nimrod he leads and commands people perfectly to the point that all are doing good in building up the tower, but God is not pleased with their actions and He wants the people to stop building the tower, as the result, God punished all of them by disrupting their language thus giving each of them a different language so that they can never understand each other, furthermore they were been scattered around the world. That is the reason why people have different languages.
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The origin of language is a concept that is somewhat vague. I can tell how language began from a religious perspective. We are all familiar with the story about the tower of Babel and how God punished mankind by causing a division leading to misunderstanding.
Scientifically, speech development begins in the brain although a little broad, there is coordination between speech and language formation. However, since early men developed from earlier ape like form, it is difficult to fathom that they spoke especially since we get present day apes to speak.
I like to think that when man evolved, it came with a more developed and enhanced brain, one inclined to communicate by simple gestures and sounds until ultimately words were formed. With constant use, it became a means of communication. Certain speech became standard.

You'll notice that many words are borrowed from different languages. This should be from the fact that People were migrating and colonising different locations. It was only natural for them to start developing their ways and understanding differently hence a close similarity. The further away the further the difference.
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Language started when humans need to communicate and they uttered sounds. Eventually, these sounds will form words that can be used by them. During the primitive era, they had used these words and were able to communicate in their own ways.
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Historically, the bantu language is the one known to have originated during slave trade. It involves a combination of Arabic, Portugal languages. 

Biblically, language came into being during the destruction of the towr of Babylon 
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The origin of language is an incredibly complex question that has perplexed linguists and anthropologists for centuries. While some believe language originated as a result of the Tower of Babel incident, as described in the Bible, this theory is largely regarded as a myth. Many linguists and anthropologists today believe that language likely began as a form of nonverbal communication, such as gestures and facial expressions, that slowly evolved into a more sophisticated form of communication. Others believe that language began as a form of imitation, with humans imitating the sounds of animals and other environmental noises. It is also possible that language developed independently in multiple regions throughout the world. Ultimately, the exact origin of language remains a mystery.
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The origin of language is still debated, but many theories suggest that it evolved from a combination of social, cognitive, and cultural factors, including the need for communication, cooperation, and the development of abstract thinking.
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The origin of language is still a mystery, but language is most likely created through the act of human beings in order to communicate with each other.
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