A Vietor Triangle (also known as the Vowel Triangle) is a schematic representation of

vowel sounds, created by Wilhelm Vietor (1850-1918, German philologist and

phonetician).
It shows the position of the tongue and jaw according the vowel sound(s) required
when speaking.
Let's start from the extreme upper left of the picture. 
1.  i - long e sound. This is made by extending your lips to either side of your face as
in a smile (or a grimace) and making a small opening between your upper and
lower lips and teeth. Make the sound a little long by counting 2 beats or 2
seconds.
ex: eat, seed, reed, feed
2. I - short i sound. This sound is made in almost the same way as i, but shorter.
Move your lips slightly sideways and make a slightly wider opening of the
mouth. Now for one beat, say I.
ex: sit, rid, lid
3. e or Ɛi - long a sound. This sound is made by with your lips moving sideways,
more in a grimace than a smile, and the mouth slightly wider than when we made
I sound. Then, keeping the same lips position, make the  mouth a little smaller by
closing it slightly.
ex: sate, rate, lay
 4. Ɛ – short e sound. This sound is made with your lips in a slight grimace and the
mouth is open wider than in Ɛi.
ex: set, let, met
5. æ – short a/American a. – This one’s a bit tricky. Start with short e sound’s
position and add a bit of a ya (ja) sound at the end of it (Note: [j] in IPA is
pronounced as a [y] sound as in yet, and not jet.
ex: sat, lap, mat
6. a – normal a. – Just drop your jaw and you’re all set. ^^
ex: pot, got, not
7. Ɔ – Italian a or Short o – Open your mouth wide as in a, but gently round your
lips like o.
ex: straw, flaw, maw
8. O or oƱ – Long o. – Gently round your lips and go from big to small, until your
lips are puckered like you’re kissing someone. Sustain for two beats.
ex: go, flow, mow
9. U or u:  –Long u. – It’s the same position as long u, only make the sound for a
shorter amount of time. U or u: - Long u sound. – Pucker up like you’re kissing
someone, and sustain the sound for two beats.
ex: goo, flew, moo
10. u or Ʊ  - Short u sound. – Pucker up like you’re kissing someone,and keep
it short, but sweet.
ex: book, foot, pull
11. ə - The Schwa sound. – This is the most common sound in American
English. It’s ubiquitous – which means you’ll find it everywhere! Open your
mouth very slightly, and grunt, like when someone pushes you gently.
ex: but, stunt, gut
12. ^ - Another grunt sound. This is extremely similar to the schwa sound, the
only difference being it is stressed.
ex: cup, bug, rug
We’ve done the overview of all the vowels, now. So let’s address a few questions.
1. What’s the difference between the schwa (ə) and (^)?
Answer: In American English, there is no difference whatsoever in sound. So
usually, we use only the schwa sound when we practice pronunciation. Only in British
English are both used. You can find this in the book, American Accent Training by
Anne Cook (page ix). Fabulous book! ^^
2. What are tense and lax or long and short vowels?
Answer: Tense or short vowels are usually produced by moving a lot of your
facial muscles. A lax or long vowel, is of course, the opposite of this.
 3. Why is it inverted?
Answer: The inverted triangle is to help us remember that for each sound, our
mouth opens a little wider as we go down until we reach the middle part, or a.
Then, our mouth gets smaller as we go up the right side until we get to the center
of the triangle.

The sounds in a Vietor vowel triangle are:

a - TRAP; start of MOUTH
ε - DRESS; SQUARE; start of FACE
e - KIT; start of FLEECE; smooth NEAR
i - end of FLEECE, FACE, PRICE, CHOICE
u - end of GOOSE, GOAT, MOUTH; vocalized l
o - NORTH; start of CHOICE
‫ כ‬- LOT
α - START; start of PRICE
ə - commA-Strut; start of GOAT; NURSE
Ø - FOOR; start of GOOSE; Smooth PURE
Examlpe of words that belong to the vietor triangle?
/iy/ as in beat
/I/ as in bit
/E/ as in bet
/ey/ as in bait
/ae/ as in bat