Dopo cena, la preside si mette a raccontare un episodio divertente di quando era giovane.

In Italian, meals are often used without an article when speaking generally:

• dopo cena = after dinner
• prima di colazione = before breakfast
• a pranzo = at lunch

So Dopo cena is a fixed, natural expression meaning after dinner in a general sense, not after one specific dinner event.

La preside means the principal or the headmistress/head teacher, depending on context.

It is the feminine form of preside used for a woman. In modern Italian, job titles are often matched to the person’s gender, so:

• il preside = a male principal
• la preside = a female principal

Here, mettersi a + infinitive is a very common Italian structure meaning:

• to start doing something
• to begin doing something

So:

• si mette a raccontare = she starts telling
• literally: she puts herself to telling

The si is part of the pronominal verb mettersi, not a reflexive in the literal English sense.

They are different structures:

• mettere usually means to put

  • metto il libro sul tavolo = I put the book on the table

• mettersi a + infinitive means to begin/start doing something

  • si mette a ridere = she starts laughing
  • si mette a raccontare = she starts telling

So in your sentence, it does not mean she physically puts herself somewhere. It means she begins the action of telling a story.

Because the expression is mettersi a + infinitive.

This is simply the required pattern:

• mettersi a studiare = to start studying
• mettersi a parlare = to start speaking
• mettersi a raccontare = to start telling

The preposition a is part of the construction and must be included.

Usually raccontare means to tell, especially when talking about stories, events, or experiences.

Examples:

• raccontare una storia = to tell a story
• raccontare un episodio = to tell an episode/an incident
• raccontare la propria infanzia = to tell about one’s childhood

In English, recount can sometimes sound more formal. In everyday contexts, tell is usually the best translation.

It means a funny episode, a funny incident, or an amusing story/event.

In Italian, episodio often refers to a specific event or incident from someone’s life. It does not always mean an episode of a TV series.

So here it is something like:

• a funny incident from when she was young
• an amusing story about her youth

In Italian, adjectives often come after the noun:

• un episodio divertente = a funny episode
• una storia interessante = an interesting story
• un ragazzo simpatico = a nice/friendly boy

This is the most neutral and common order. Sometimes Italian adjectives can come before the noun, but that often changes the tone or nuance. Here, episodio divertente is the normal choice.

Literally, it means something like:

• about/of when she was young

But in natural English, we would usually say:

• from when she was young
• about a time when she was young
• from her youth

The phrase di quando... is a common way in Italian to refer to something connected to a period in the past.

Italian uses the imperfetto (era) here because it describes a background state in the past:

• era giovane = she was young

Being young is not seen as a single completed event, but as an ongoing condition or period of life. That is exactly what the imperfect is good for.

So:

• quando era giovane = when she was young

This is the natural and correct tense here.

Italian often omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

In this sentence:

• si mette can mean she starts
• and the noun la preside already tells us who we are talking about

So lei is unnecessary. Italian usually includes subject pronouns only for:

• emphasis
• contrast
• avoiding ambiguity

Both word orders can exist, but they give slightly different emphasis.

• La preside si mette a raccontare...
  Neutral: The principal starts telling...

• Si mette a raccontare la preside...
  Less neutral, more marked, and it may sound literary or stylistically unusual in many contexts.

Italian often begins with the subject in straightforward statements, especially in learning examples.

Yes. Italian word order is fairly flexible.

You could say:

• La preside, dopo cena, si mette a raccontare un episodio divertente...
• La preside si mette, dopo cena, a raccontare...

But Dopo cena at the beginning is very natural because it sets the time frame immediately.

Yes, it is very natural Italian.

The structure:

• raccontare un episodio di quando... means telling a story or incident connected to a particular time in the past.

Similar examples:

• Mi ha raccontato un episodio di quando andava all’università.
• Ci ha parlato di quando viveva a Roma.

So this sentence sounds natural and idiomatic.

Yes, but here it is clearly an adjective.

• era giovane = she was young
  Here giovane is an adjective describing she

As a noun, it can also mean young person:

• i giovani = young people

In your sentence, it definitely means young, not a young person.