This study explores EFL students’ perceptions of the Micro Teaching course conducted during a short semester and its impact on the development of their teaching competencies. A qualitative descriptive design was employed, involving nine purposively selected students who had completed the course and gained teaching experience. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews via WhatsApp voice messages, allowing participants to provide flexible and reflective responses. The findings indicated that the short semester format encouraged students to maintain higher levels of focus, discipline, and confidence in their teaching practice. The intensive and practice-oriented structure enabled them to develop essential teaching skills, including lesson planning, classroom management, and interaction strategies. Participants reported that the condensed format pushed them to quickly adapt and apply pedagogical knowledge, which strengthened their readiness for real classroom situations. Nonetheless, students faced challenges, such as limited opportunities for in-depth reflection, insufficient feedback, and minimal chances to revise their teaching performance, which they perceived as constraints on the long-term development of their pedagogical competence. Despite these limitations, the students appreciated the course as a meaningful preparation for professional teaching. To improve future short semester implementations, the study recommends structured feedback sessions, clearer demonstration of teaching procedures, and more opportunities for reflective practice. These enhancements are expected to help pre-service teachers optimize learning outcomes and achieve comprehensive teaching competencies within the
time-limited structure of a short semester.