Hi Jonathan I´m going try to answer your question. As you say, both words does reference to the second person of singular. But "tu" in a sentence is a subject. (¿Has sido tú? / Tú vives aquí.) While "te" is a direct or indirect complement.(Te llama tu madre / Te felicitaron por tu trabajo).

Hi! It's not an easy question. I know it seems that "te" means "you" before a verb, but it's not exactly like that: Example: "Te amo (a ti) = Tú eres amado/amada por mí" (In this case I do the action "I love" and you just receive the action "you're loved") It happens the same in English: I love her, she is great. I love you, you are great. So, in the last sentence you use "you" twice but they don't mean the same. You can see this in the other sentence because you use "her" (le/a ella) and "she" (ella) Examples: "I told her to come." "Le dije que viniera. (a ella)" "I told you to come" "Te dije que vinieras" "She is my sister" "Ella es mi hermana" "Tú eres mi amigo" "You are my friend" When we say "Te gusta", "te" is no refering to you but what you like. "Tú gustas" could be said, but it'd mean literally "you're liked" so "People like you", it would mean you're nice or attractive and people like you in general. I hope the explanation is not too long and difficult and it helps. ^_^

Your right, "tú" is the subject of the verb when it means "you". And "te" is the object of the verb. And "gustar(se)" means more closely "to please." So when you say "te gusta ___," it literally means "___ pleases you." This is the Spanish way of signifiying the liking of something. I hope that helps!