Hello!

I'm Susan Holden, the author of the Portfolio series. I'm working with my colleagues in the Macmillan office to bring you this website.

Like all good magazines, the Portfolios have lots of articles and photos about the world today. Every month, this website brings you extra articles, new facts and ideas to research. It also has sections for your ideas and projects.

You see, it's your website too. Send us your personal news and photos. Tell us about you and your life! We want to get to know you and to build up a network of Portfolio users. To begin, here are a few facts about me.

I live in Scotland – in the north of Britain, in a white house next to a river.

This is in a small town near some mountains. Hamish, the Highland Bull in the Animals Portfolio, lives near! It's 90 kilometers from Edinburgh (the capital of Scotland ) and from Glasgow (Glasgow Rangers and Celtic!).

I usually visit Brazil every year. I like to visit schools to meet students and teachers – in fact, I've already met a lot of you! Brazil is such a huge country, that it's really interesting to see different parts of it. This diversity is one of the things that inspired the Portfolio series. That's why there are so many ideas in it for exploring the differences and similarities between cultures.

I love to travel. I'm lucky – my present work as a teacher trainer, editor and writer has given me lots of opportunities to go to different places. I began to experience different cultures early - I was in Paris for a year when I was a student. Later, I lived in Italy for 8 years – and I taught English there. Kids, teens and adults! I also taught in a university in Montreal for a year.

Latin America is one of my favorite places – there are so many interesting things to see – and great people to meet. So far, as well as Brazil, I've been to Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Peru and Mexico. Where next?

That's enough about me! Send us your news and photos.


Susan