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Brazilians usually use "você", so there's really no need for you to know the difference because they don't make the distinction. I think in some parts of Brazil they use "tu" sometimes, but they still conjugate the verbs as if they were saying "você", so just stick to "você".

The difference would be that "tu" is used when talking to people about your age or younger than you, when talking to family, friends, etc.. "você" is used when talking to people much older than you or authorities (police, judges, teachers, etc..). We make the distinction in Portugal, but most people use "o senhor/a senhora" (sir/ma'am) instead of "você" and it's actually impolite to use "você" in Northern Portugal.

In Brazilian Portuguese, we generally don't use tu, though the in the South of Brazil people often use it. Você means tu. So you can use both in any situation without worrying about it. Here in Brazil, the second person isn't used (tu and vós). We use, informally, você to the second person singular and vocês to the second person plural. At times, of course, you have to me formal, so you can say: senhor (mister) or senhora (miss, madam). Moreover, make sure to conjugate properly:

Você is conjugated as the third person singular. So you say: Você é, not você és

Vocês is conjugated as the third person plural. So you say: Vocês são, not vocês sois.

Senhor(es) and senhora(s) are also conjugated as the third person. Thus, you say: "A senhora é" or "as senhoras são" and "o senhor é" and "os senhores são".

If you're learning to speaking Portuguese, I would advise to not learn the Tu and Vós conjugation, because we don't use it at all. Please, send me a feedback telling me what you think of my English and the answer. ;) If there's something that hasn't been clarified yet, just ask ;)

I don't know Portuguese but I know other Romance languages and I will tell you based on that.

"Tu" is informal. If you're at all uncertain, don't use it. It varies from culture to culture how much they are a stickler for using formal language, but some people would be quite insulted by it. So play it safe.

That's why teachers teach the formal first and want you to get used to it. It's safer.

But in general, informal "tu" is used with parents talking to kids, with kids and young people talking to each other (even if strangers), and among close friends and family. So you'd likely see it being the preferred form of address on social media.

Tú is in Spanish, você is in Portuguese