Learning a little useful Tibetan will make your travel in Tibet easier. Close contact with Tibetan locals in their own language is a marvelous experience. Here is a website where you can learn some useful words and phrases: http://wordbridge.com/Tibeng/index.html. Read the spelled pronunciations, or download the audio and listen.

However, the website will not tell you how to ask the most important question that tourists need to know in any language: "Where is the restroom?" Better plan to use the restrooms at your hotel.