Dumb boyfriend sincerely requesting your help regarding the basics

Hi all!

To start, I have never crocheted and to that extent, I am not someone with steady enough hands to do anything of this sort. I am currently armed with a few internet searches and a basic understanding of what crocheting is along with a healthy amount of intimidation from seeing the designs being posted to this forum

Valentines is coming up and I know my girlfriend has been wanting to get into it but just does not have the time to go out and buy stuff/figure out how to do it

So my humble inquiries to the community:

1) What kind of hook tends to be the most versatile across the way too many kinds of yarn and are there any recommended brands?

2) When buying things to start with, should I go all in in larger amounts of yarn or a larger variety of colors to start with. Additionally, are there any recommended brands?

3) Do you prefer to just use normal scissors or a smaller pair just for crocheting?

4) Are there any kinds of yarn needles that wouldn’t work with some forms of thread or does a simple one work?

5) What exactly do stitch markers do? From the aforementioned internet explanations, I’ve seen them described as counting stitches but I have to admit I don’t exactly know what that means

6) Is a flexible measuring tape required or will a normal one suffice?

Thank you all for taking your time to read this! I deeply apologize for my lack of knowledge on the topic and I will continue to learn more in the meantime!

Have a great day!